A person may become voice-disabled or have difficulty speaking due to, for example, a disease condition or because of a surgical procedure requiring, for example, intubation. Such voice-disabled persons may be present in a hospital, clinic, hospice, or even in the person's home. Communication for such a person can resort to reading of lips, nodding of heads, and squeezing of hands to communicate with family and health care professionals. Without effective communication, the voice-disabled person may not receive the standard of care he or she would otherwise receive had he or she been able to communicate effectively. The lack of effective communication may also create unnecessary levels of anxiety for the voice-disabled person. Health care professionals ask the voice-disabled person many questions relating to their prognosis and progress which may not be adequately answered. In addition, other problems arise due to the ineffective communication from the voice-disabled person. For example, localized areas of pain are often misdiagnosed, resulting in over-medication or medication of an area which is not the source of pain. Proper and essential treatment given in an adequate and timely manner will help resolve or prevent many post-operative complications and decrease the voice-disabled person's length of stay in a health care environment. Providing the voice-disabled person with a clear and precise means of communication is, thus, greatly desired. Accordingly, there has been a need for a communication device for a voice-disabled person. In addition, a communication device is needed which accomplishes the desired function while being easy to manufacture and use while remaining cost effective. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.